Camps and Trails in China eBook

In a town near Ta-li Fu we were in front of the caravan
with Wu and Heller: Wu stopped to buy a basket
of mushrooms but his horse refused to move ahead.
Beat as he would, the animal only backed in a circle,
ours followed, and in a few moments we were packed
together so tightly that it was impossible even to
dismount. There we sat, helpless, to the huge
delight of the villagers until rescued by a mafu.
As soon as he led Wu’s horse forward the others
proceeded as quietly as lambs.

We paid forty cents (Mexican) a day for each animal
while traveling, and fifteen or twenty cents when
in camp, but the rate varies somewhat in different
parts of the province, and in the west and south, along
the Burma border fifty cents is the usual price.
When a caravan is engaged the necessary mafus
are included and they buy food for themselves and beans
and hay for the animals.

Ever since leaving Yuen-nan Fu the cook we engaged
at Paik-hoi had been a source of combined irritation
and amusement. He was a lanky, effeminate gentleman
who never before had ridden a horse, and who was physically
and mentally unable to adapt himself to camp life.
After five months in the field he appeared to be as
helpless when the caravan camped for the night as
when we first started, and he would stand vacantly
staring until someone directed him what to do.
But he was a good cook, when he wished to exert himself,
and had the great asset of knowing a considerable amount
of English. While we were in Ta-li Fu Mr. Evans
overheard him relating his experiences on the road
to several of the other servants. “Of course,”
said the cook, “it is a fine way to see the
country, but the riding! My goodness, that’s
awful! After the third day I didn’t know
whether to go on or turn back—­I was so
sore I couldn’t sit down even on a chair to say
nothing of a horse!”

He had evidently fully made up his mind not to “see
the country” that way for the day after we left
Ta-li Fu en route to the Tibetan frontier he
became violently ill. Although we could find nothing
the matter with him he made such a good case for himself
that we believed he really was quite sick and treated
him accordingly. The following morning, however,
he sullenly refused to proceed, and we realized that
his illness was of the mind rather than the body.
As he had accepted two months’ salary in advance
and had already sent it to his wife in Paik-hoi, we
were in a position to use a certain amount of forceful
persuasion which entirely accomplished its object
and illness did not trouble him thereafter.

The loss of a cook is a serious matter to a large
expedition. Good meals and varied food must be
provided if the personnel is to work at its highest
efficiency and cooking requires a vast amount of thought
and time. In Yuen-nan natives who can cook foreign
food are by no means easy to find and when our Paik-hoi
gentleman finally left us upon our return to Ta-li
Fu we were fortunate in obtaining an exceedingly competent
man to take his place through the good offices of
Mr. Hanna.